Ruben W. Retzlaff, age 91, of Shawano, passed away on Tuesday, September 26, 2017 in Shawano. Rueben was born on October 12, 1925 in the Town of Belle Plaine to the late Alex and Louise (Bartz) Retzlaff. He attended Grass Lake School and graduated from Shawano High School in 1944. On September 28, 1947, Ruben was united in marriage to Lorraine Bartz at St. Martin Lutheran Church in the Town of Belle Plaine. Besides owning and operating his own dairy farm, he worked at Jolin’s, Bakke Feed & Seed for five years and at Citizen’s Bank for 10 years as a custodian. Ruben was a life-long member of St. Martin Lutheran Church in the Town of Belle Plaine, where he held all offices over the years. He served as a director for six years for Equity Oil Co-op; the Supervisor for the County Board for six years and served on the board for both the Town of Belle Plaine and Shawano. In his free time, he enjoyed hunting and fishing.
Ruben is survived by: his loving wife of nearly 70 years, Lorraine; three children, James (Mae) Retzlaff of Clintonville, Curtis (Wendy) Retzlaff of Shawano and Kathleen (Peter) Samens of Oconomowoc; seven grandchildren, Cory Retzlaff, Mark (Rebecca) Retzlaff, Ryan (Maria) Samens, Stephanie (Matt) Repke, Bethany (Russ Gignac) Retzlaff, Craig (Danielle) Retzlaff and Jon (Alexis) Retzlaff; six great-grandchildren, Taryn, Ava, Hailey, Vincent, Sullivan, Maxwell; one sister, Alice Blank of Shawano and two sisters-in-law, Betty Retzlaff and Lorna (James) Shelton of Oregon.
He was preceded in death by: his parents, one brother, Roland Retzlaff and his brother-in-law, Melvin Blank.
Funeral services for Ruben will be held at 11:00 am on Saturday, September 30, 2017 at St. Martin Lutheran Church with Rev. Kurt Kluge officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Visitation will be held at the church on Saturday from 9:30 am until the time of the services. Swedberg Funeral Home of Shawano is assisting the family with the arrangements.
The family would like to extend a special thank you to the staff at Birch Hill, Pastor Kluge and his sister-in-law, Betty Retzlaff, family and friends for all their support.